Tag: Supreme Court of India

Hemraj and Aarushi were murdered. People refer to the case as Aarushi murder case. Hemraj is forgotten.

The case has seen many twists. After Aarushi was found murdered it was said that Hemraj was missing. He was the suspect. Next day his body was found on the terrace.

Rajesh Talwar was the suspect. A police officer called a press conference and said Rajesh Talwar had found Aarushi and Hemraj in an objectionable position, not a compromising position.

Supporters of Rajesh Talwar cried foul. There was a demand to hand over the case to CBI and it happened. The CBI officer let off Rajesh Talwar. Three servants were arrested. Narco tests were done. Attempts were made to put words in their mouths and frame them. There was no evidence against the three.

Years passed. Another officer came. He came to the conclusion that Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar were murderers but that could not be proved. He filed closure report.

There were four people in the house. Two were murdered. Nobody came from outside. The two who remained were guilty. Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar committed murders or one of them committed murders and another abetted in cover-up. As said by fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, â€œWhen you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.â€

The Talwars were happy that CBI had filed closure report. They pretended they were outraged. They did not know they were suspects.

The court refused to accept closure report and told CBI to pursue the case. The Talwars went on appeals repeatedly and delayed the process. They could hire expensive lawyers. They had friends who appeared on TV channels and defended them.

Nupur Talwar skipped court appearance on 11/4/2012. The special CBI court at Ghaziabad issued a non-bailable warrant against her. CBI went to arrest her. She could not be found at her residence. CBI sent people to different places to find her.

Nupur Talwar appealed in Supreme Court on 12/4/2012 through her lawyer. She did not get bail. She was asked to appear in court. CBI was not prevented from arresting her. She appeared in Supreme Court the next day. The bench comprising Justices B. S. Chauhan and J. S. Shekhar rejected her bail.

What followed was mind boggling. Within minutes of rejection another bench comprising A. K. Patnaik and another judge took up the case of Nupur Talwar. They restrained CBI from arresting Nupur Talwar. They said we have to protect Nupur Talwar. They said the case will go before a bench headed by CJI S. H. Kapadia. CBI said they knew the whereabouts of Nupur Talwar but they had not arrested her.

A. K. Patnaik is a disgrace and a shame. He had no business to take up Nupur Talwarâ€™s petition. Judges like him pervert the system. There will be anarchy. CJI should stop him from functioning. CBI could have gone back to B. S. Chauhan and J. S. Shekhar and they could have said â€œWho is A. K. Patnaik? Arrest Nupur Talwar right now right here.â€

Parliament should start removal procedure against him. Removal is not enough. Law must be changed to hang A. K. Patnaik. He and his associate are like two evil judges in the Book of Daniel. Those two judges framed an innocent woman and sent her to death and Daniel saved her. Here the Supreme Court judges saved a criminal.

On 18/4/2012 in CBI court CBI sought and got extension of non-bailable warrant up to 30/4/2012 and said they will not arrest Nupur Talwar until CJI transfers the case to a bench. A lawyer told the journalists CBI should assume its responsibility and arrest Nupur Talwar. There is no stay on arrest from CBI court, High Court or Supreme Court. CBI is playing a double game. They say they want to arrest Nupur Talwar but do not arrest her.

Sometime back a High Court judge said CBI should be shut down. If CBI knew the whereabouts of Nupur Talwar they should have arrested her. Their search on 11/4/2012 was a farce.

Removal of bad Supreme Court and High Court judges should be an easy process. CBI officers who frame innocent people should be held accountable.

Some chief ministers talk of NCTC being in violation of constitution and federal structure. When Supreme Court or a High Court orders a case to be investigated by CBI it is a violation of constitution and federal structure.

On 10 December 2009 a Division Bench of the Supreme Court, consisting Justice V. S. Sirupurkar and Justice Deepak Verma reduced the death sentence of Dilip Tiwari, a murderer, to 25 years of imprisonment because the victims were of â€œso called lower caste.â€
Dilip Tiwariâ€™s sister had married Prabhu, a member of Ezhavar caste of Kerala. Dilip Tiwari, a Brahmin, with the help of Sunil Yadav and Manoj, murdered Prabhu, Prabhuâ€™s father Krishnan Nochil, Prabhuâ€™s brother Bijit and a neighbour Abhyaraj at Andheri on 17 May 2004. They had hacked them to death. Prabhuâ€™s mother India and sister Deepa were injured in the attack.
The Sessions Court had sentenced the murderers to death and Bombay High Court had confirmed it.
The judgment, inter alia, had the following sentences:
â€œ…Caste is a concept which grips a person before his death and does not leave him even after his death. The vicious grip of the caste, community, religion, though totally unjustified, is a stark reality. The psyche of the offender in the background of a social issue like an inter-caste community marriage, though wholly unjustified, (Italics mine) would have to be considered in the peculiar circumstances.
It is common experience that when the younger sister commits something unusual and in this case it was an intercaste, intercommunity marriage out of the secret love affair, then in the society it is the elder brother who justifiably or otherwise is held responsible for not stopping such affair. It is held as the family defeat.
At times, he has to suffer taunts and snide remarks even from the persons who really have no business to poke their nose into the affairs of the family. Dilip, therefore, must have been (Italics mine) a prey of the so-called insult which his younger sister had imposed upon his family.
The murders were the outcome of a social issue like a marriage with a person of so-called lower caste. However, a time has come when we have to consider these social issues as relevant while considering the death sentence in the circumstances as these.â€
This judgment is dangerous and should not be allowed to set a precedent. If something is wholly unjustified it should not be considered whether the circumstances are peculiar or otherwise. Intercaste marriage is not a peculiar circumstance, more so in Bombay.
The judgment says Dilip, therefore, must have been a prey. Either he was a prey or he was not. Even if he were a prey that did not give him a right to murder. If other people poke their nose they should be told to shut up. Since the judges were sure about him being a prey this sentence should not have been part of the judgment.
The judgment goes against equality enshrined in the constitution of India when it says â€œwhen we have to consider these social issues as relevant while considering the death sentenceâ€. This justifies discrimination on the basis of caste and less punishment for people of â€œupper castesâ€ for crimes against people of â€œlower castesâ€.
The Government of India must act. A review petition must be filed against this judgement in the Supreme Court. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Law Minister Veerappa Moily must begin the process of removal of these judges Justice V. S. Sirupurkar and Justice Deepak Verma.

About Vincent Augustine D’Souza

Vincent Augustine D'Souza is a blogger, author, novelist and quiz master. His quiz site is Go 4 Quiz. He is known as walking encyclopedia. His novels KING and POPE are available in ebook format. Currently he is working on his English Konkani Dictionary.

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KING - A novel by Vincent Augustine D'Souza that shows some contemporary views as wrong. It shows a way to an ideal world.

Excerpts from the King
Chapter 33 - Horse Flu
November was coming to an end. Horses started having flu. Horse flu spread to people. On 1st December one person in Peking died of horse flu.
Next day one person in Canton and one person in Peking died of horse flu.
Third day one person each in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Canton and Peking died of horse flu. Flood in Istanbul.
On 4th December one person each in Saigon, Tokyo, Dacca, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Canton and Peking died of horse flu. Horse flu kept spreading to other parts of the world. Read More...